Play Ball!: A Derby in the Hundred Acre Woods
by BaseSebax
Summary: A story told prior to the infamously difficult "Pooh's Baseball Derby" Game. It was written for an RP. Written to be read by an adult to a child; has some minor advanced vocabulary. It was designed so that when a child asks "What does that word mean?", it casually educates them, by option, from the reader. Based off the characters found in Disney's telling of A. A. Milne's stories.


Play Ball!

The sun shone bright on the Hundred Acre wood one fine morning, as friends of the familiar sort sat enjoying a picnic. The young boy Christopher Robin was throwing a great big party in honor of his very best friend, Winnie the Pooh. At the long log-top timber hewn table, there sat the rest of Christopher Robin's collection of friends who had come to honor Pooh bear on trimming his diet of Hunny to only four pots a week. Oh! Everyone was so proud of Ole Pooh, who was quite infamous for his penchant for a pot of his "Hunny"… or two or three or four in a single hour, very well let alone a week! There sat harried but jovial Rabbit, verbose and slightly pretentious Owl, timid and also dear little Piglet, matronly Kanga and her rambunctious son Roo, who was nestled in her pouch, there was the not-so-scary-after-all of a Heffalump Lumpy, and, last but certainly not least, Eeyore, sitting gloomily at the end of the table opposite Pooh bear. On that grassy hill, the company sat feasting on all their favorite foods, most of which had been prepared from Rabbit's prized garden.

"Three cheers, for the triumphant Pooh bear!" Hipped Christopher Robin, lifting his glass of the wood's finest carrot juice high above his head, his expression as contented as is to be expected of such a charitable child.

"Hooray!" The attendance echoed back the joyfully. They were truly so proud of him!

"I probably never could have done it…" Eeyore droned disheartened. "Not that Hunny would agree with me anyway…"

"My stores of Hunny have never been so full, now that Pooh isn't always at my house asking for some." Rabbit said poised with pride.

"G-good job, P-Pooh Bear." Piglet stuttered precariously.

"HOO! HOO! HOO! HOOOOO!" An ecstatic holler cut the chatter as it echoed from the bottom of the high hill. Up the hill bounced an indomitable soul, who happened to be the owner of the holler, the happy-go-lucky, one of a kind Tigger. "Pooh! I gotta tell ya something Pooh!" In no time, the bouncy founcy friend had bounded up the hill and trounced Winnie the Pooh with one fell swoop.

Pooh now found himself on his back and not so much upset as confused. "Tigger… why did you bounce… when you could have… not bounced?" Pooh stared blankly at the happy face Tigger had on his snout, and looked up into his gleeful beady black eyes.

"It's the besterest thing you ever heard! Hoo-hoo!" Tigger struck a pose standing on one foot, on top of Pooh's belly. "I finally pahfected my "Disappear-o" ball!" Tigger was beside himself with joy.

"D-disappear…?" Piped Piglet.

"o…?" Repeated Rabbit.

"…ball?" Observed Owl.

"Gosh, Mama! A real disappearin' ball! I gotta see it!" Roo was just as happy as Tigger, restless in his pouch, which caused Kanga to wriggle around and finally lift Roo out. Holding him up, face to face, Kanga smiled at him with a motherly sweetness and understanding. "You know I wanted to be around when Tigger finally figured it out, and now he did! You gonna show us, Tigger?" Roo couldn't quite find enough words, kicking his big feet as he slumped in Kanga's grip.

"Why shuh, little pal!" Tigger took Roo off of Kanga's paws. "Say! I'll do it one betterer! How'bout a Baseball game, everybody?"

At length, Kanga giggled gingerly. "My, it is a lovely day for a Baseball game, isn't it?"

"Just Grrrrrrrrrrreat!" Tigger bounced on his tail with Roo in a tight hug. The young Roo laughed along with Tigger and did his best to hug the striped jokester. After a few bounces, Tigger landed back on his feet where he then put Roo back onto his own long feet.

Owl hooted with delight. "I say! I perceive the perfect opportunity to show off the pitch my Great Uncle Red taught me as a mere owlet." Owl grabbed an apple and tossed it with a flourish of his feathery wing, forcing it into an almost unbelievable zigzagging pattern of flight! The apple flew over the hill and dropped to the ground below the slanted hill top.

"I have my good old "Stall ball"!" Rabbit proudly professed following in queue with his own apple in hand. He threw it like Owl had thrown his, but for Rabbit, the ball went straight. However, only a second after it had left his throwing paw, it soon stopped completely in midair as if frozen by a cold wind! With the next moment, it returned to the speed it as going when he began throwing it! It flew off the hillside as well, and Rabbit crossed his arms with smug pride. "Now _that's _talent." He professed.

"I don't have any neat tricks… just a usual pitch… nothing special… figures." Eeyore added grumbling all the way. He gave a look back at his tail and gave it a swing before slumping down onto his rump in a miserable slump. "What would you expect anyway?"

"Try this, Eeyore!" Ever cheerful Roo offered as he heaved a baseball nearly as large himself into the air above him. His mood changed, however, when he realized he'd thrown it too straight into the air, and it was already starting its downward motion towards him! He tried to scramble out of the way, but tripped over his own floppy feet and covered his head in sheer panic.

"Roo!" Kanga hustled over to the spot of danger and with a mother's determination she knocked the ball out of its current line with her tail and sent it hopping away. "What in Heaven's name were you thinking, Roo?" Kanga scolded firmly. She picked up Roo and held him close to herself; afraid to let him go.

"Mama!" Roo protested the kisses and the overbearing hugs of his parental guardian, seeming to have forgotten his recent distress in the face of his currently childish one.

"I was flying by when I saw a baseball in the air" Chimed in a dignified young lady's voice from above. Just then, a pretty little bluebird swooped into the group and landed on the table. "Are you going to do your "Stall Ball", Rabbie?" She giggled and looked over at Rabbit.

"Kessie! It's wonderful to see you!" Rabbit was momentarily lost in the moment of his own parental adoration; he had alone cared for Kessie the tiny bluebird as a chick and had adopted her as his own some time ago. Kessie was all grown-up now, but Oh, how Rabbit loved to be called "Rabbie", especially then that Kessie was a mature adult, who still revered him. "Yes, we had just gotten through talking about-"

"P-Pardon me. Oh! Umm…so sorry for interrupting." Piglet interjected shyly.

"Yes, continue, Piglet. You were saying?" Rabbit replied hastily but with a tone of patience.

"Well, the thing is… that is… what I mean to say is… All I want to suggest is… Oh Dear."

"Out with it, Piglet Ole Pal!" Tigger scooped Piglet up in his paws like the jokester he was.

"I don't know how to throw a Baseball…"Piglet sulked sadly, and as a result, everyone showed they knew how Piglet felt by their concerned murmurs.

"Not to worry Piglet. I shall make sure that you do fine…" Pooh seemed lost and confused as he contemplated heavily. "That is … If I figure out what we're playing."

"Pooh, you've never played Baseball?" Christopher was the concerned one this time.

"Not that I remember." Pooh replied as though he was in some way at fault; he practically sounded apologetic. "Is that bad?" He added simply and fearfully.

"No." Came a reply, giggling, Christopher Robin took a knee in order to reach an equal level with the short and round Winnie the Pooh. "Baseball is a game from the United States of America; it's sort of like Cricket."

Pooh seemed happy to understand something at last. "Do you mean like the crickets in the woods that chirp at night?"

"No!" Christopher Robin chuckled emphatically. He did not mean to insult Pooh, because they were the best of friends, but sometimes the bear of very little brain could be irresistible in his naivety. "It's a game with a bat, no Pooh beh, not like those kinds of bats," He stopped to explain because Pooh had looked like he was prepared to say something along those lines of question. Apparently, that was exactly what he was planning, because the next instant, he sank dejectedly. "Silly ole beh, a bat is a stick made out of wood or metal, that's wider at the end you hit the ball with and thinner where you hold it. Someone else tries to throw a ball at you, and you have to hit it with the bat."

Rabbit looked at Pooh disconcertingly. "Kessie," he turned to the little bluebird, "Can you go round up of some of the others around the Hundred Acre Woods and when you get to my house-" The next part was not openly heard, as Rabbit leaned in towards the bluebird and whispered something into its tiny ear. "Got it?" He asked with enthusiasm after some brief whispering.

"I think you'll have a very excited Pooh bear, Rabbie." Kessie hinted happily and winked before she flapped her wings a little and took off into the clouds.

"Welllll, Rabbit. What's the big idea, huh?" Tigger pleaded.

"Wellll," Rabbit mimicked the extended word, "Let's just say that if Pooh bear can beat all of our special pitches, he'll get a certain reward that's golden, sticky, starts with "H", and is sweet…"

Pooh's tummy grumbled. "Oh, I haven't been guessing very well today, but I really do hope you mean… Hunny." He hadn't had any hunny in days, in fact, due to his diet.

"Learn how to play Baseball, and you just might be right, Pooh Bear." Rabbit crossed his arms and gave the simple stuffed bear a wink.

"I think I rather like Baseball… it gets me Hunny… apparently." Pooh hugged himself in contentment.

"Just to warn you, Pooh beh, I'll be watching the other pitches, which means "throwing the ball", and I'll be your final test before getting that Hunny. I want to make sure you understand the game."

"Oh bother." Pooh crossed his chubby arms and plopped onto the ground backwards onto his rump.

"I believe you can do it!" Christopher Robin hauled Pooh back up to his feet with a smile.

Meanwhile, Owl had been off to the side, tutoring Piglet in how to properly pitch a Baseball. It was at that moment that Piglet seemed to finally get the hang of it, and timid little Piglet tossed a tremendously fast curve ball with an apple, that when it hit a nearby tree on the hill, it exploded on impact into a juicy mess.

Pooh had watched this and everyone there besides Piglet and Owl wore a bemused expression. "Oh bother…" Repeated Winnie the Pooh.

"Plaaaaaaaay Ball!" Tigger cadenced as he heaved Eeyore up to all four of the startled donkey's feet. "You're up first, ya grumpy puss. It's time to play!"

And so the game began, in a small field by a river in the Hundred Acre Woods. All the friends gathered new and old alike to participate or watch, and the fun grew with each new toss.


End file.
